Live-VCD: Visual core description with a tablet PC.

Expression of the sea that we are usually looking from the Chikyu is quite placid, but that on September 5th to 6th was of a bad mood slightly. A large Typhoon No.12 [IOKE], which was concerned to hit the Shimoikita area directly, passed away far from here in the east in the midnight of September 5. There was a possibility that the ship had to change the location for evacuation, but finally she was not necessary to move. While waiting for this typhoon passing away, the shakedown was mainly focusing on DPS modification for the BOP (Blow Out Preventer) and Riser running operation. The BOP was moved above the moon pool, and waiting for running.

In the laboratory, Visual Core Description was performed on an application software in J-CORES (a core data management system) using tablet PCs, digitalizing descriptive data directly to scientific database. In parallel with core processing, discrete samples for further geochemiscal and mineralogical analyses onboard were taken from working-half cores.

On September 9th, three advisory scientists and three USIO staffs came onboard to review shipboard laboratory environment.

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Mysterious Stone? Trapped at the top of the 40th core, with blue paint being adhered. The most curious and exciting core we found which was a mysterious rounded pebble of hard siltstone, 4 cm in the major axis, was trapped in the clay layer at the top of the 40th core, approximately 355 mbsf in depth. How did this mysterious stone emplace? Derived from ice raft debris? Or dropped by an ancient whale? No, it was a stone dropped by modern humankind. The reason is that blue paint was adhered a little bit on the surface of the stone! A hypothesis is as follows: it may have been occasionally misplaced in the core liner before inserted into the inner core barrel, and then been caught on the flapper of the core catcher at the bottom of the core barrel until just before the sediment coming in.

Week #06 [9/10-9/16] (To be Released)